Jordan: a 12-year-old-boy studying at prep school that was devastated by the Pulse, Jordan faithfully remains with the headmaster, Charles Ardai, until they destroy the flock at the school and Ardai is driven to suicide by the phoners. Jordan remains with the group and provides the intellectual theory and comparison of the effects of the Pulse to that of a worm in a computer.

Here is a part of the interview.

Colleen Bement: What can you share about your experience making the upcoming film Cell?

Owen Teague: Cell was an amazing experience. That was my first time working on the set of a movie like that; heavy on stunts, special effects, blood, and science-fiction-horror stuff. Working with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson was incredible. Both are really intense and made that terrifying world feel real. Stacey Keach was also amazing to work with. The whole thing was kind of surreal, because leading up to getting involved with that movie, starting in middle school, I had become obsessed with everything Stephen King. He’s one of my favorite authors. And so actually playing one of his characters, and saying his words, and being in a movie he was so closely involved with was just insane. Especially a film with such amazing people working on it. And the other thing was that while we were shooting it, a movie about a kind of apocalypse, we got hit with this horrible, freak snowstorm in Atlanta. I think they called it “snowmaggedon.”The crew got stuck in the bar where we were filming for like two days. So there we were, making this movie about four people in the middle of the end of the world, and outside, people were stranded because of a giant snowstorm. Other than that though, it was a great experience.

Looks like the world premiere of Cell has been moved. This has been posted on the festival’s website:

"Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to withdraw CELL from the 6:30 PM slot on Friday 26th of February. If you were looking forward to this in particular, we are sorry. There was absolutely nothing we could do about it, and believe us, we tried."

Looks like Signature Entertainment has acquired the distribution rights to Cell in the UK. According to info from the British Board of Film Classification it will be 97 min and 40 sec long, released uncut and out (in the UK) on February 26 2016.

Here are some comments from BBFC about the movie. THIS CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE!

Note: The following text may contain spoilers

CELL is a science fiction horror film, based on a Stephen King novel, about a mysterious outbreak of violent madness that affects anyone with a mobile phone.

VIOLENCE
The film contains strong bloody violence. In one early sequence a large group of people are infected simultaneously and there is sight of them attacking and killing numerous people, with victims being stabbed and shot. During the sequence, there is also sight of a woman being repeatedly punched in the face by an infected man, with blood streaming from her mouth. In another scene, a large horde of infected people are set on fire and shown screaming and running to escape the blaze. The film also contains several scenes in which infected people are shot.

INJURY DETAIL
There are some gory images when the infected people are killed. For example, there is sight of blood oozing from a head wound after an attack, and a scene in which an infected woman repeatedly bashes her head against a wall in a frenzy before turning round and drooling blood and a tooth out of her mouth. Throughout the film there is also sight of bloody scars and injuries on the bodies and faces of the infected.

LANGUAGE
The film contains strong language ('f**k'), some of which is used aggressively.

In one sequence, a man sees a woman kneeling in front of a man in a toilet cubicle, implying sexual activity. No clear detail is shown, however, and the implied activity is revealed to have been just a dream. There are also passing references to drug use.

International Film Trust (IFT) is handling foreign rights to the film, which they are actively selling at the European Film Market.

“We are so glad to be working with Clarius, who recognize the broad commercial appeal of this high-concept genre film starring an impressive cast who deliver exceptional performances,” said Benaroya.

“I’m proud of the film we’ve made and excited to work with the strong, experienced team at Clarius on what I know will be a successful release,” said Saperstein.

“CELL is an exciting addition to our slate, with solid pedigree both in front of and behind the camera and a wild ride of a story for our cell phone-dependent culture,” said Louise Chater, Clarius’ acquisition head. “Our team is very much looking forward to working with these filmmakers and bringing the film into the US marketplace.”

Set to be a wide theatrical release later this year, CELL also stars Isabelle Fuhrman (THE HUNGER GAMES) and Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach (NEBRASKA, THE BOURNE LEGACY). When a powerful signal is broadcast across mobile networks worldwide, cell phone users’ minds are instantly and dangerously re-programmed. Heading north through New England in search of his wife and son, Clay Riddell (Cusack) is joined by a group of survivors hoping to fend off the bloodthirsty and hyper-connected “phoners.”

CELL is produced by Michael Benaroya (LAWLESS, MARGIN CALL), Richard Saperstein (SE7EN, HANCOCK), Brian Witten (CHERNOBYL DIARIES, FRIDAY THE 13TH) and Shara Kay (SILENT NIGHT). While he was President of Dimension Films, Saperstein oversaw the Stephen King adaptations, THE MIST, directed by Frank Darabont, and 1408, which also starred Cusack and Jackson, and grossed over $130 million worldwide.

Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack are in Atlanta filming "Cell," a thriller based on a Stephen King novel. Cell phones transmit a mysterious virus that brings on the apocalypse. Neat!

The movie has been filming in downtown Atlanta this week, just a few blocks from where "Mockingjay" has been filming. It has since moved to a spot in east Cobb,

The movie, which also has filmed underneath a bridge at 85 and Mayson Drive and a Sandy Springs restaurant, needs some fleet-footed extras. Long-distance, marathon and trail runners are needed for scenes to be shot today and next Wednesday and Friday.

Isabelle Fuhrman (“The Hunger Games”) and Stacy Keach have come on board the movie version of Stephen King’s “Cell,” opposite John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

International Film Trust, the sales agency arm of Benaroya Pictures, is selling the apocalyptic thriller to buyers at the Berlin Film Market.

Tod “Kip” Williams is directing. Benaroya Pictures is financing the film, which recently began shooting in Atlanta.

Fuhrman plays a teenage neighbor of Cusack’s Clay Riddell character who joins him and Jackson’s Tom McCourt character on their journey to safety after a mysterious pulse spreads like a virus through the human population.

Keach (“Nebraska”) will play the headmaster of a prep school where the survivors stop along their way.

Producers are Richard Saperstein, Michael Benaroya, Brian Witten and Shara Kay. While president of Dimension Films, Saperstein oversaw the Stephen King adaptations “The Mist” and “1408,” which also starred Cusack and Jackson, and grossed over $130 million worldwide.

The screenplay for “Cell” was written by Stephen King, with revisions by Adam Alleca.

EXCLUSIVE: Isabelle Fuhrman, who has played memorable baddies in both The Hunger Games and Orphan, has landed the female lead opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack in The Cell. The film is an adaptation of the Stephen King thriller novel about an apocalyptic event that amounts to a pitch heard by anyone on a cell phone at a certain moment in time, which turns them into zombified beings with a herd mentality. Fuhrman will play the lead role of Alice. Paranormal Activity 2 helmer Tod Williams is directing a script by King and Adam Alleca, the latter of whom scripted Last House On The Left.

He'll star opposite John Cusck in the film adaptation of Stephen King's apocalyptic thriller.

Samuel L. Jackson will star opposite John Cusack in Cell for Benaroya Pictures and The Genre Company.

Tod "Kip" Williams is directing the film adaptation of Stephen King's apocalyptic thriller, and is set to begin shooting in January. Benaroya is financing the project, which International Film Trust will shop to foreign buyers at the American Film Market, which gets underway Wednesday in Santa Monica.

“It's really exciting to have such a great cast continue to come together on this project,” said Benaroya Pictures principal Michael Benaroya. “Our goal is to create exciting commercial fare with top talent to really deliver on the concept of an elevated genre film.”

Jackson will play Tom McCourt, an engineer and former solider who escapes from Boston with Cusack's character, Clay Riddell, after a mysterious pulse transmitted by cell phones spreads like a virus among the human population.

King wrote the adapted screenplay with Adam Alleca.

Richard Saperstein is producing alongside Benaroya, Brian Witten and Shara Kay. During his tenure as president of Dimension Films, Saperstein oversaw the film adaptations of King's The Mist and 1408.

Based on the story by Stephen King, Bloody Disgusting now have three sales posters for Cell, which will be on display at next month’s American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA.

“When a powerful signal is broadcast across mobile networks worldwide, cell phone users’ minds are instantly and dangerously re-programmed. Heading north through New England in search of his wife and son, Clay Riddell is joined by a group of survivors hoping to fend off the bloodthirsty and hyper-connected “phoners.””

John Cusack is starring, with Paranormal Activity 2‘s Tod “Kip” Williams directing. The film is still in pre-production.

From the Press Release
On the eve of the Cannes Film Market, Benaroya Pictures and Miscellaneous Entertainment’s newly formed international sales company, International Film Trust (IFT), has added a new title to their Cannes slate - the Stephen King adaptation CELL, starring John Cusack - it was announced today by IFT President Ariel Veneziano.

IFT has acquired the remaining international territories for CELL, based on the novel by Stephen King, with Benaroya Pictures now on board to finance and co-produce.

CELL stars Golden Globe nominee John Cusack (2012) and will be directed by Tod "Kip" Williams (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2, THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR).

When a powerful signal is broadcast across mobile networks worldwide, cell phone users' minds are instantly and dangerously re-programmed. Heading north through New England in search of his wife and son, Clay Riddell (Cusack) is joined by a group of survivors hoping to fend off the bloodthirsty and hyper-connected "phoners."

The film is currently in pre-production with principal photography set to begin in September.

Eli Roth was years ago attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell, but ultimately passed because technology was moving too quickly. Point was, by the time he developed, filmed and released the movie, it would be “outdated.” He was right.

Either way, now out of Dimension and Weinstein Company hands, Screen Daily is reporting that Cargo Entertainment has attached Paranormal Activity 2‘s Tod “Kip” Williams to direct John Cusack, pictured, in the Stephen King adaptation. Cusack has always been attached to the project.

King and The Last House On The Left writer Adam Alleca adapted “Cell,” which “Centres on a graphic artist who struggles to reach his wife and son in the aftermath of a devastating pulse transmitted through a mobile phone network.” King’s novel is a throwback to his early apocalyptic horror novels. In a single moment, a pulse sent out through cell phones around the world turns every phone user into a crazed, murderous zombie.

He elaborates further at Fangoria: “But the script wasn’t ready,” he explains, “and the studio [Dimension] had a very different idea of what they wanted as opposed to what I hoped to make. Instead of fighting with them, I thought, what’s the rush, but then quietly let it go.”

In 2007, [Eli Roth] was attached to direct an adaptation of Stephen King's epic zombie thriller "Cell," but later dropped out. "I walked away from it," he says. "I love Stephen King and I love the book, but I want to write my own stories."

Roth: The latest with "Cell" is that the script is not finished. I've realized that I can't multitask in the writing department; I can only kind of do one thing at a time. So right now I'm working on [a guest-director episode of] "Heroes," and then I'll work on "Trailer Trash," and then we'll see about "Cell" after that.

Eli Roth told Comic Con that his adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Cell” is on hold. Hollywood’s golden horror boy has said that the script for the movie, which he is working on with writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, is yet to be completed.

The project has been put on hold because Roth is busy working on his next film “Trailer Trash”, a movie full of fake trailers. Mad, but we love him!

When he gets round to making The Cell, he has told us he really wants Stephen King to have a cameo role, as he has done with several of his movies before.

The Cell info from yesterday was not correct. No date for when Cell will start shooting has been set yet. Eli Roth said the following to Movieweb.com.

"Right now, I literally, this weekend, I just got back from Europe doing International Press for Hostel: Part II. That was on Saturday that I landed. Cell is a little bit away. I'm gonna have to take some time and decompress and just unwind a little bit and start some time in, probably, 2008."

Eli Roth provides an update on his adaptation of Cell, which was supposed to be his next big project.

“I am not directing CELL any time soon, and I most likely will take the rest of the year to write my other projects. Which means I wouldn't shoot until the spring, and you wouldn't see a film directed by me in the cinemas until at least next fall (2008)."

Cinematical: I know you're moving on to Cell, the Stephen King adaptation. Last time we checked in, the writers were still working on a draft. Where is that now?

ER: Same thing. I just like to do one movie at a time. I know some directors multi-task, but I can't do that. I tried with Grindhouse and Hostel II and it was exhausting. So I'm going to get through the press on Hostel II and then dive into the script for Cell.

Cinematical: Anyone in mind for the lead roles; I know Jordan Ladd is a favorite of yours?

ER: Nope. Nobody. No cast until there's a script. The only thing that matters right now is the script. Once I finish Hostel: Part II, I'll take short break and then dive into Cell.

Cinematical: With remakes all the rage these days, would you ever be interested in remaking a Stephen King film?

ER: Nope. I did Cell because I've always wanted to do a Stephen King adaptation. Everything else from this point forward, I want to write, direct and create my own ideas.

While chatting with screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski about their work on the Stephen King film 1408 (pictured, and currently set for June 22 release by Dimension), Fango also got a few comments from them about their next Dimension/King project: CELL, to be directed by HOSTEL mastermind Eli Roth. This will be a different ball game altogether from 1408; while that film relies on an unseen, psychological menace, King’s 2006 novel is a thrill ride from page one, his own homage to the zombie films of George A. Romero. In the book, a mysterious “pulse” is emitted by every cell phone in the U.S. turning anybody using one into a vicious, inhuman killer. Those afflicted eventually form a hive mind determined to wipe out the last survivors, who struggle to survive in a devastated New England.

The two scripters see CELL as a chance to not only pull their own variation on the “zombie” genre, but also to make a statement of how technology has overtaken the American lifestyle. “People think they have to be connected at all moments of their lives, so we’re trying to make the movie a big indictment of that,” Alexander continues. “We’re using the novel as a jumping-off point. The book is very sarcastic about this world of people and what they have brought upon themselves with all their friggin’ cell phones and e-mails and pagers and Bluetooths and all this stuff, but after a certain point, the novel sort of moves on to new ideas. We’re trying to keep the movie focused on that original theme, because it’s very timely and provides a really good shape to the material.” But he adds that the movie will reflect the fast-paced, action-packed tone of King’s novel: “There’s much more action in CELL, and particularly because Eli is the director, we’d be crazy if we didn’t make it visceral.”

“There’s not a lot of pretension in CELL,” adds Karaszewski. “The best sequences in the book are the ones that get really violent and horrible and funny all at the same time, and that’s why Eli is the perfect director for it.” The pair are currently completing the script’s first draft, with production tentatively slated to begin in the fall; see Fango #265, on sale in July, for their comments on 1408, and #264, on sale this month, for a chat with that movie’s director Mikael Hafstrom. —Don Kaye

Eli Roth, who will direct the feature-film version of Stephen King's best-seller Cell, told SCI FI Wire that he won the endorsement of the famously finicky author for his version of the story. "My first question when I adapted it was can I deviate from the book?" Roth said in an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 25 while promoting Grindhouse, in which he has a small part. "It's Stephen King. Am I going to piss off Stephen King? He was mad at Stanley Kubrick [who adapted King's The Shining], I don't want him mad at me. And, finally, Stephen King was like, 'Do whatever you want.'"

Roth (Hostel) and writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are now writing the script for Cell, based on King's apocalyptic book in which a mysterious cell phone "pulse" drives some people insane all over the world, turning them into ravening killers.

Roth said that he would necessarily change elements of King's book, while maintaining other elements. "I love the opening [scene]," Roth said. "But I also want to keep, ... not necessarily that same chaotic tone, but I want to keep the tension of the opening 40 pages of the book going throughout the whole film and introduce other elements. Because I think the book, for me, where it loses tension is where suddenly you don't feel like the phone crazies are trying to kill them. ... I find that it's finding other ways to make it so you still feel the tension that any second you could get killed [and] carrying that throughout the whole film."

Roth, a native of Boston, added that he hopes to shoot the movie in that city, where it is set. And he'd even like to persuade King to make a cameo in the movie, which Roth will begin after he wraps the upcoming sequel Hostel 2.

"If he'd like to, sure," Roth said of a King cameo. "There's always room. That's the good thing about Cell. Because it's like crazy people running around trying to [kill you] It's like everybody gets a cameo."

In a brief bit of news from NYCC's Hostel Part II panel, filmmaker Eli Roth revealed that Cell, his big screen adaptation of the Stephen King novel, is currently in the script-writing stage and would be his next project.

"Cell… the writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, they were the writers for Ed Wood and 1408, which is an awesome, really scary script. It's going to be so good. They're working a draft right now, so by the time I finish Hostel Part II the script should be ready. I really want to read it."

Focusing on the "curse" of modern technology, Cell tells the story of humanity's last hope — a group of individuals who band together to survive a world infested by zombie-like killing machines. Reverberating through cell phones across the planet, "The Pulse" (as it becomes known) changes all who hear it into relentless killing machines, capable of death and destruction to any one who stands in their way.

"It's going to be a full-on, big-budget, apocalyptic zombie movie. Really sort of like more in the spirit of the Dawn of the Dead remake."

Roth added: "Everyone on a cell phone gets zapped, and they go completely insane. So they're not really zombies. They're just people that go around killing anyone that's in front of them."

Roth said that he plans to bring his own peculiar sensibility to the material. "Well, there's going to be a little bit of violence," he said, with tongue in cheek. "There's going going to be some blood. I want to make it really, really, really sick. Just full-on sick. But I also want to try to make it a worldwide event. Like, I don't want to see it just happening in one little town. I really want to see people going crazy all over the world and just see the end of civilization."

Roth said that he's following in the footsteps of some of his favorite helmers. "The thing about Stephen King is that so many of my favorite directors have adapted his work," he said. "And they're so varied. I mean, you have The Shining and Carrie and George Romero. So they wind up being a blend of Stephen King and whatever that director's personal taste is. And that's what I plan on doing with Cell."

TVGuide.com: You recently signed on to direct the movie version of Stephen King's Cell. What appeals to you about that story?

Roth: I love zombie movies and I love horror movies that have some level of social commentary in them. When you read that book, you feel that Stephen King has been driven crazy by people on cell phones. I think it's such a smart contemporary idea to have everyone on cell phones turn into psychotic serial killers. I've always wanted to do an apocalypse movie, a zombie movie and a Stephen King movie.

TVGuide.com: So you're a fan of his work?

Roth: Oh, yeah. Stephen King is my favorite writer. So many great directors, be it [Stanley] Kubrick or [Brian] De Palma or George Romero, have adapted his work. To have the opportunity to do it was so unexpected. I'm really psyched.

TVGuide.com: You mentioned Stanley Kubrick. He and Stephen King had a famous falling out over The Shining because his film was vastly different than the novel. Would you feel comfortable making alterations to the source material if necessary?

Roth: That was 25 years ago. I think Stephen King is probably in a different place now. I think he really likes me and trusts me. Everybody has told me to just go make the best movie and that if I have to change things, Stephen will be cool with it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it. I don't want to upset Stephen King — I want to make him proud — but I've got to have the freedom to change things if I'm going to make the movie.

The movie version of Cell might get done in mid-2007. Here is what Eli Roth said in an interview in Playing Magazine.

I was kind of the horror guy of the moment," Roth told Now Playing Magazine in an exclusive interview, "so we knew that we could set it up at a studio But with several different producers in contention, it was Stephen King's decision, and he said, `Let's give these guys a shot.' So we had it for a window and set it up right away with the Weinstein Company."

Essentially the project became available, Roth's producer Mike Fleiss heard about it, and made sure that Roth's name was one of the first ones mentioned "He asked what I thought of it, and said he thought we'd have a pretty good chance to get it because Stephen King really liked Hostel, which definitely helped."

It's going to be a while before much happens with Cell. He's got to write and direct Hostel 2 within the next few months, and said maybe he'll get to Cell in mid-2007.

King's novel is a throwback to his early apocalyptic horror novels. In a single moment, a pulse sent out through cell phones around the world turns every phone user into a crazed, murderous zombie.

Mike Fleiss and Chris Briggs, who with Roth produced "Hostel" and are readying the sequel, will produce "Cell."

Deal marks Dimension's second deal with King, as the studio prepares to cast the Mikael Hafstrom-directed adaptation of the King novella "1408," which Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski adapted. Dimension topper Bob Weinstein said the fast progress to production on that thriller helped the studio's cause with King's new bestseller.

"The combination of technology and horror is fun high-concept," Weinstein said. "And Eli will make it right after he finishes 'Hostel 2.' "

Roth wants to write the pic or co-write it, depending on the time constraints created by his horror sequel, which shoots in Prague.

Roth first dialed in with Bob and Harvey Weinstein when they were pitched "Hostel" by exec producer Quentin Tarantino. The brothers felt the film was too violent, but Roth said they told him later they'd made a mistake and they were determined to get the next one.

Roth said King is his favorite writer and accepted right after reading the book.

"I couldn't put it down. It was such a balls-out horror movie with a smart take on the zombie genre," Roth said.

Project will be steered by Dimension production head Richard Saperstein, senior veep Matt Stein and Brendan Deneen, with CAA repping both the book and director.